Finding The Other Half (Private w/ Kip)

"I swear to ShiningWater when I get my claws on them!"

Atrex was mad. Very mad.

His face red with fury, he trudged through the undergrowth, dragging his feet and tail behind him like a burden. He weakly shook his wing at the sky every so often, his eyes dull with gloominess, yet also gleaming with rage. A strange combination..


He was getting sidetracked again.


Sighing, Atrex found a small pond and sat down in front of it with a thud, before sighing and burying his head in his golden wings. "Ohhoho... who am I kidding? My reactions are what make them laugh.. Yet it's impossible to not react," Atrex mumbled. Clumsywings. Yes, that's what they called him. Because he was clumsy and soft-headed, or, in a more direct use of words, stupid.

A soft breeze caused the weak end of a long branch to pat his pat tenderly, as if to comfort him. Atrex released another big sigh and removed his wings from his face, lowering his gaze to the water, watching the minnows as they darted between the reeds.

Atrex looked impossibly sad and impossibly humiliated. The whole TRIBE had seen it go down.

There he was, walking along in the MIDDLE of the crowd, when some teen LightWings flew up from behind him and snatched his scroll. One snatched it right out of his grasp, the other pushed him to the ground and into the mud, where he faceplanted into the earth, and the third slammed down on his back before flying off, all cackling like old hags.

He had never been so embarrassed. Atrex didn't take well to attention, either positive or negative, and for those few seconds, EVERYONE was staring at him, either in shock or with laughter pouring out of their mouths. Atrex had stood, forcing a laugh as he brushed himself down with his back wings, before he walked unsteadily away.

And that was how he ended up here.

The memory brought a new wave of heat to his face and Atrex reached his breaking point. He buried his head in the water, not caring if it made him dizzy or nauseous. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him..

Kip had witnessed the scene and wasn't very happy.

How could they?! Treat a dragon like that! It wasn't right. Kip was the biggest pacifist anyone could ever meet, and that's not a negative thing. In fact, she was proud of it and had a way of showing it off. She thought there needed to be more dragons in the world like her. That sounds snobby, yes, but how many dragons do you see confronting bullies?

I'll do that later, Kip thought to herself, annoyed and angered. She wasn't only mad at the trio of meanies-- the bystanders, too. They laughed! And those who had stood in shock had only went about their days. Kip knew the dragon played it off cool, but she wanted to check if he was as okay as he seemed. He had an unsteady stride in his step, anyway. That was a sign, and not a good one either. Being a Healer, Kip had patients whom she diagnosed with depression. She had caught glimpses of this same dragon before, but never really approached him. She barely saw him either, so she wasn't sure if he was bullied all the time or just this once. Bullying is a common cause for depression, too. If the LightWing male experiences this often, there is a pretty big chance of him having a diagnosis. The world needed no more depression. Just thinking about how common it is is just heartbreaking.

Kip followed the golden LightWing. She didn't reveal her presence until he buried his head into the water. When he did she frowned and sat next to him. She tapped his shoulder, as if to say "ahem!". She was still frustrated but tried not to show it on her snout. The Healer was afraid that if he saw her angry he would think that her fury was directed at him and make him feel even more miserable. She didn't want that. Kip was frowning in concern, hoping that the dragon knew she wouldn't cause him harm.

Atrex had been, quite literally, wallowing in his misery, when a light tap on his shoulder caused him to raise his still muddy face. He raised his neck and met the eyes of another lightwing.

And he felt his breathing hitch, and for a second he forgot how to breathe.

The dragoness that stood before him was a snowy white in colour, with what looked like no scales on her body. She was long and lean, with a snake-like tail, clearly meant for coiling around things. She had a hornless snout, instead she had three webbed ridges on her cheeks, framing her elegant face.

Of course, that face was currently set in a frown.

"U-uh.." Atrex stammered, unsure of how to handle the situation. The bags under his eyes told him he was very tired. Exhausted, even.

Clearing his throat, Atrex spoke to try and fill the silence that, for him, was quickly becoming awkward. So uh.. Hi. I-I'm Clumsywi- I-I mean Atrex." he winced at the use of his nickame. Clumsywings. Because he was, naturally, clumsy.

"You're.. One of the healers, aren't you?" he asked politely, offering her a tiny smile. Yay! Another healer to talk to! If she WAS a healer, and if she was here to be nice to him.

Red shaded his face when the memories came back to him of five minutes ago, and Atrex sighed, closing his eyes as he looked forward. "Sorry, just.. Having another off day."

Kip looked into the eyes of the LightWing as he rose his head and, for a brief second, she was mesmerized by the appearance of its depths. She blinked to clear her conscience. No distractions, Kip... No gazing dreamily into another dragon's eyes when they're sad! She fluttered her wingtips quickly and gently to get her blood flowing. She smiled gently at this dragon in hopes to comfort him. He seemed nervous. She frowned as soon as he started to say Clumsywings. Okay, now that was mean! It would take a lot of bullying to get a dragon to automatically think of introducing himself with a cruel nickname such as that.

Kip gently spread her wing and placed it gently on Atrex's back. She wanted to smile again to try to make him feel better, but thought it may seem kind of mocking at first. So she just kept on a concerned expression. "I... I am one of the Healers. My name is Kip." She took a deep breath. "I... Saw what happened. Are you okay, Atrex...?" Now here it was: an automatic, genuine smile. "Atrex... A nice name by the way."

Her eyes.. they were sky blue, contrasting sharply with his golden eyes. For a moment, the young LightWing was dazed by the color, watching the light dance across her irises, making her eyes gleam in the evening sunlight.

Atrex had to drag his eyes away from her as he looked forward, trying to maintain a proper posture and not to slump.

A few seconds later, Atrex felt a gentle wing resting on his back. A second later he felt tears filling his eyes at such a simple gesture, and Atrex wiped his eyes quickly to prevent himself from crying. A small sob escaped him, but that was it.

As the female spoke, Atrex looked at her. Kip.. His mind echoed her name. It suits her.

Kip asked if he was okay, and Atrex shrugged, sighing softly. "I'm okay. You get used to it." After a moment, he spoke again. "I guess that's what happens when you're.. different," he said, raising his back wings to refer to them. "Plus, I'm nerdy and spend most of my time either reading, writing or healing, and all I talk about is that, so I guess they just don't understand and that's why they dislike me."

Atrex caught her smile and saved the image into his head. Her smile.. it was like.. a beam of sunshine. Bright, warm, and beautiful. Atrex smiled, a real smile of his own, as small as it was. Her smile was contagious.

At her complement, Atrex felt color rush to his cheeks and he shrugged, chuckling nervously as he looked down shyly. "T-Thank you. I like your name too! Kip. It's really nice."

Atrex raised his eyes to hers and smiled again. "Thanks you. You know for, for coming to check on me. Nobody's done that before," Atrex looked forward at the lake. "My friends don't even know I'm.. depressed," he winced as he uttered that word.

Atrex lowered his eyes. "My best friend, she.. we.. we recently found her.. body," he stammered, before burying his face in his wings. "She was mauled.. I'd known her since we were six. And she was so strong.. Never lost a fight. She had the shortest temper of any dragon I've ever met. Even shorter then a FireWing's, and she's an IceWing. She would have never backed down from a fight. She always stood up for what was right, even if she was very mean sometimes. She lived with a lot of regrets, and kept trying to make up for it. Always ready to lay down her life for a complete stranger. And yet she was the one murdered," Atrex said in a muffled tone, trembling as the images of her dead body entered his head.

Raising his head and removing his wings from his face, Atrex bit his lip and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kip, I shouldn't be burdening you with this."